True Love?
by nebula2
Summary: Complete Two members of the third watch crew have fallen for each other. Is it true love? Will a demon from someone's past drive them apart before they can find out?
1. Childhood demons

AN: I'm re-posting this story. There are no major changes with the story line though some parts were rewritten and I fixed some mistakes I found along the way.

* * *

Outside the Camelot fire station, Kim Zambrano walked over to the ambulance parked outside. The previous shift had washed it but Kim had now doubt that the inside of it desperately needed cleaned out. Not to mention, the required inventory check needed to be completed. She knew Alex would be out shortly to help with the task.

As she opened the back door of the ambulance to start the inventory check, Kim glanced over toward the police department as the officers started coming out to take up their patrols. Sully and Ty walked down the steps and head for 55-Charlie. Ty saw her and waved. She waved back as she saw Faith walk out of the building. There was still no sign of the officer she was hoping to catch a glimpse of though.

Kim noticed Faith glance in her direction and then start across the street. She didn't think much of it as the two of them had been acquaintances for the last few years, having went out for drinks from time to time after work. She would even venture to say that she could have been friends with the female officer if the two of them spent more time together.

"He's still inside talking to the chief," Faith told her as she approached the ambulance.

"Who?" Kim said trying to sound like she really didn't know what Faith was talking about. She wasn't sure why but she didn't want everyone to know about her newest relationship yet.

"Bosco, who do you think?" Faith replied, with a smile. "So you two are really serious, huh?"

"Great, what am I, the talk of the 55 precinct locker room?" Kim said.

"No," Faith said quickly. "I ride with Bosco for eight hours a day. We talk. He really likes you Kim. The only thing the other guys are suspicious about is that he isn't talking about all the women he's been with but he isn't bragging about you or anything. Actually I think the silence is driving them all up the wall."

"Well, I guess that is something," Kim said.

"What's wrong, Kim?" Faith said, feeling that there was something that the paramedic wasn't saying.

"I love him, Faith," Kim said, surprised by the sound of the words. It was the first time she had told anyone that."All the time I've known Bosco, I never thought I would say that but spending time with lately . . . I've just gotten to see the real him. He's great with Joey."

Faith smiled. "Boz, has a soft spot for kids," she said, thinking of her partner's interaction with her own children. To Emily and Charlie, Bosco was sometimes more of an uncle than her own brother was.

Kim smiled. That was definitely something she had discovered about Maurice Boscorelli in the month they had been dating. "For now, I've just told Joey that Bosco is a friend from work. If I get hurt, I can deal with it, but I don't want to put Joey through that."

"You have some doubts about the relationship, then?" Faith asked.

"I don't know? I just can't seem to get any kind of commitment out of him, other than the fact that, at least he isn't out with other women. Last night, just to see what his reaction would be, I told him some other guy had asked me out. He actually told me to go out with the guy if that is what I really wanted to do." Kim sighed. She wasn't sure she was putting her feelings into words right. She decided to try another tract. "I guess I want a real relationship. To have a real family. Not be a single mother. Bosco seems to be happy with us dating. Like he doesn't want the responsibility of a family. I want something more, Faith."

"Give him, time Kim. If you really love him, just give him time," Faith told her. She knew stuff about Bosco's past that no one else did. But it wasn't her place to tell Kim about her partner's past. It had to come from Bosco when he was ready.

Kim looked at Faith. She knew the police woman knew stuff that she wasn't saying. Kim also knew it wasn't fair to push the issue. Faith had after all known Bosco longer than she had. She and her co-workers had often even speculated how Faith could put up with Bosco. Kim was beginning to figure that out but the last thing she wanted to do was cause any problems between Faith and Bosco. For now, she would just have to trust the other woman's advice on blind faith.

"Faith, you ready?" Bosco called across the street as he came out of the station.

"Yeah, coming," Faith called. "If you ever need someone to talk to I'm willing to listen," Faith said to Kim.

"Thanks."

Kim watched as Faith crossed the street to join Bosco by 55-David. She caught Bosco's eye as he waited by the RMP, and he gave her a quick smile and a nod, which she returned. She kept watching them as the two cops got into their RMP and drove away. It wasn't until the car was out of sight that she climbed into the back of the ambulance to start the inventory. She hadn't been at it long when Alex joined her.

"55-David, we have a report of a domestic disturbance at 34 2nd street, 4th floor, apartment nine,"

"10-4 central," Faith said into her radio.

"Wonderful," Bosco said half under his breath as he hit the siren and sped up.

"Seems pretty quiet from out here," Faith said as they got out of the car in front of the apartment building.

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, they heard the sound of broken glass as a potted plant came flying out of a fourth floor window, landing not far in front of the squad car.

"You spoke to soon," Bosco said heading for the front door of the apartment building at a run. Faith was right behind him as they ran up the stairwell.

As they came out onto the fourth floor, it was apparent in which direction apartment nine was. All they had to do was follow the noise. They heard a man shouting and a woman screaming and other noises from something hitting something else.

Bosco stopped in front of the door and knocked, yelling "Police" loudly as he did so. The noises from within the apartment didn't change. He tried a second time with the same result.

As Bosco got on one side of the doorway, he glanced at Faith who was up against the wall on the other side of the door. Both officers had their guns out. Bosco silently mouthed, '1-2-3', to his partner and then kicked open the door.

"Police, nobody move," Faith said loudly as she and Bosco burst into the apartment to see a woman on the floor. The woman already had multiple visible injuries. A man stood above her, a baseball bat clenched in his hand. The bat was already in mid swing.

Without thinking, Bosco rushed to put himself in between the man with the bat and the woman on the floor. As the bat came swinging toward him, he grabbed the bat in mid air, feeling pain shoot up his arm as he did so. Despite the pain, he still took the man by surprise and was able to yank the bat away from the guy.

"Arms in the air," Faith told the guy, still pointing her gun at him. The man looked at her, then glanced back at Bosco, who now held his bat, and quickly put his hands in the air

Bosco put his gun away and then said into his radio, "Central, 55 David. We need a bus at this location." He tossed the bat aside and then took out his hand cuffs.

"Turn around and put your hands on the wall" Bosco told the guy, who slowly complied. Once Bosco had the guy secured and was reading him his rights, Faith also put her gun away and then quickly knelt down on the floor next to the woman and checked on her condition.

As Bosco turned around and saw the woman on the floor he felt sick to his stomach. All of a sudden thoughts of his childhood came rushing in. His Dad beating his mother till she was black and blue. Him and his brother hiding afraid to make a sound because they knew he would do the same to them if their Dad could get his hands on them. The sound of his mother crying long into the night as he lay in his bed trying to go to sleep.

Bosco roughly grabbed a hold of the guy and spun him around. "Why don't you take a look at your handy work you son-of-a-bitch. You know it doesn't take much to beat up on someone smaller and weaker than you," he said angrily.

"Boz," Faith said in a calming, yet warning tone. She knew her partner was about to loose it. Part of her couldn't blame him but she really wasn't in the mood to pull her partner off another handcuffed prisoner. Not today.

"You're a worth less piece of trash," Bosco said to the guy as he roughly led him out of the apartment. Faith wasn't sure it was such a good idea to leave her partner alone with the guy but she also couldn't leave the woman until the paramedics arrived.

"Victim is in the living room," Faith could hear Bosco say from out in the hallway. Seconds later Alex and Kim made their way into the apartment. The two paramedics knelt down next the woman as Faith got to her feet.

"I'll be outside," Faith told them, wanting to follow her partner. Alex gave her a quick acknowledgment but didn't stop from her assessment of the woman.

Walking out of the building, Faith was relieved to see Bosco putting the prisoner in the back of the squad. Once the guy was inside, he slammed the door shut, a little harder than was necessary. He turned and leaned against the car, his back to the guy, his eyes looking up toward the fourth floor of the building.

"Bosco, calm down. We put an end to it," she said softly coming to stand beside him.

"No, we didn't Faith. The only way he's going to stop beating on women is if he's dead. Hell, she probably won't press charges and he won't even be in jail long for what he did."

"We've done what we can..."

"No we've done what the law says we can do but the law doesn't care about the victim's in domestic abuse. Not until it's too late," Bosco said, cutting her off.

"You should get that looked at," Faith said quietly, changing the subject. She was referring to the hand, which he had grabbed the bat with. Already, Faith could see bruising on the palm of the hand and wrist and the wrist looked to be swollen.

"I'm fine," Bosco said shrugging off his partner's concern. It really didn't hurt that much right then. However, Bosco knew once the adrenaline wore off he was going to regret grabbing that baseball bat.

As Kim and Alex came out of the building with the victim Faith said to him, "Why don't you go to the hospital with them, Boz. I'll take this guy in and then join you there."

Bosco just nodded. He knew Faith didn't trust him too much with being alone with their prisoner. He couldn't blame her. A part of him wanted to just take the guy into an alley somewhere and beat him senseless.

"You coming with us?" Alex asked as he approached them.

"Yeah, Someone needs to be there to take her statement and talk to the social worker," Bosco told her helping them load the stretcher into the ambulance.

Kim climbed in the back with the patient while Alex and Bosco climbed into the front seat. As they speed through the streets of New York Bosco couldn't get those thoughts of his childhood out of his mind. He briefly glanced back at Kim. They said the violence was hereditary. That kids who grew up seeing that kind of violence were more than likely going to act the same way when they grew up. Did he really want to take that chance? Was there a demon inside of him waiting to come out?

They arrived at the hospital and Bosco followed the group at a short distance, trying to stay out of the way. He followed them as far as the nurse's station in the ER. He would wait there until the doctors were done working on the lady and he could get her statement.

Kim and Alex came back out a few minutes later with their stretcher heading back to their ambulance. As they passed Bosco, Kim hesitated a moment.

"I'll be right there," she said to Alex, who nodded and continued for the ambulance. "You should get that hand looked at," she told Bosco quietly.

"I will eventually," Bosco told her not able to make eye to eye contact with her. He had no doubt Faith wouldn't let him leave Mercy without having a doctor look at it.

"Are you okay, Boz?" Kim asked. The worry was evident in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he told her trying to put on a smile. He had a feeling it wasn't all to convincing. "I'll talk to you later," Bosco told her hoping she would get the hint and leave. The last thing he wanted to do was talk. His feelings and emotions were a raging storm within and he needed time to sort them out.

"Okay," Kim said clearly worried but not wanting to push it. Especially not here in the middle of the ER.

Faith and Bosco spent another hour waiting around the hospital to take the woman's statement. Bosco had been right. The woman refused to press charges, telling the officers that it was only a misunderstanding. That her husband didn't really mean to hurt her and she had just pushed him too far. Faith was surprised at her partner's ability to hold his tongue and not tell the woman exactly what he thought of that excuse. When they left a social worker was still talking with the woman.

After getting the statement, Faith made Bosco let the doctors check his wrist out. Amazingly nothing was broken. Dr. Morallis gave him a prescription for some pain medication and put a brace on his wrist which he was suppose to wear for the next couple of days. Faith had her doubts as to whether or not he would have it on the next day when he came into work, if he kept it on the rest of the shift.

When they were done at the hospital, they made their way back to the station house. There was a whole lot of paperwork to be done.

"It just makes me sick," Bosco said suddenly on the drive back to the station house breaking the silence that had been between them. "No one should be able to treat someone else that way."

"We can't fix all the problems in the world Boz. There are just too many," Faith said.

"It still doesn't make it right," Bosco said angrily.

"I never said it did," Faith told him.

"No , I guess you didn't," Bosco said and then fell into silence again.

Back at the station house they hurried through the paperwork, both of them preferring to be back out on the street that stuck around the station. Luckily they didn't have to respond to any more domestics for the rest of their shift.

* * *

At the end of her shift, Kim Zombrano walked across the street and stood by the blue mustang parked there. She had no doubt that anyone who saw her there would start to wonder what was up with her and Bosco and though they had wanted to keep their relationship quiet, at this point she didn't care. She wanted to know how he was. She wanted to know where they stood.

She didn't have to wait long before Bosco came out of the station house in his street clothes. When he saw her, Kim could tell that he deliberately slowed his steps down.

"Hi Kim," he said cooly.

"How's your hand," Kim asked?

"Okay. Doctor said it just bruised. Nothing broken."

"That's good," Kim said. She could feel the tension between them. Taking a deep breath, she just asked the question that she was really here to ask. "Are we okay, Bosco?" she asked quietly, trying to make eye contact with him but like at the hospital he wouldn't look at her. The silence scared her and part of her wished that she had never asked the question. The tone of his voice, when he finally did speak, scared her even more.

"I'm sorry, Kim," he said quietly and Kim really could hear the regret in his voice. Something inside her told her that part of him really didn't want to say the words he was about to utter. "I don' think we should see each other any more."

"Why," she asked?

"I just don't think it's going to work between us. We're too different," he told her hoping she couldn't tell he was lying. He had never cared for someone like he cared for her. However, she deserved so much better than him. "I'm sorry," he said again quickly.

He stepped past her and got into his car before she could see the tears that he could feel starting to form in his eyes. He drove off leaving her standing there in the dark. He didn't see the tears that were streaming down her face but even so he knew he had hurt her. But it was better if he hurt her now then to try to live with what might happen if he stayed with her. He didn't want to find out if he was capable of doing what he despised so much in others and as he drove home visions of the domestic call from earlier today played in his head.


	2. A call to a fire

At the sound of footsteps, Alex looked up from tying her shoes to see Kim coming up the steps the following afternoon. "Hey Kim," Alex said, taking in the look on her partner's face. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Why wouldn't it be?" Kim put her stuff in her locker and pulled out her paramedic shirt and started pulling it on over her white tank top.

"Just checking," Alex said knowing not to push it. Kim would talk if she wanted to. Alex had a feeling that there were a lot of things going on in her life that Kim wasn't telling her about right now. She decided to change the subject. "How's Joey?"

"He's doing okay. He's very excited about the school play. It's a musical. I still can't believe he even wanted to try out for it but he did and he is loving it."

"That's great."

"It would be better if I was spending more time with him. I miss him Alex."

"When's the appeal?"

"In a couple of weeks. I hope it goes well."

"I'm sure it will," Alex told her. At that point Jimmy Doherty, Kim's ex-husband walked into the room. "I'll be downstairs," Alex said making a quick exit. She had no intention of being in the room if anything started between the two of them. She was definitely on Kim's side in the battle for custody they were having over their son but she also had to work with Jimmy sometimes and so she chose to stay as neutral as possible.

"Hey Kim, can you take Joey tonight?" Jimmy asked her. It wasn't her night but Jimmy had plans to go out with a girl tonight and would rather have the date without his son hanging around.

"Sure," Kim said. She wasn't even going to ask why Jimmy wanted to take her. Right now she would take time with her son any chance she could get. She had every attention of winning her appeal.

* * *

Faith glanced over at her partner sitting in the passenger seat of their RMP. He was starting to scare her. Not only had he shown up on time but he was also still wearing the wrist brace. He had been silent during role call. Not one smart word from him not even when Sully had tried to bait him. Since they had gotten in the RMP and started their shift, the only words he had said was to answer the calls. He had yet to say anything smart to anyone, which for Bosco was a small miracle.

"What's wrong Boz?" she finally asked.

"What?" Bosco said coming out of the daze he had been in at the sound of his partner's voice.

"You're awfully quiet today. I was just wondering if something was wrong."

"No, nothing is wrong."

Faith had ridden with him for too long to accept that answer. She knew he was lying as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Instead of letting it go she tried a different approach.

"So how's Kim?"

"Okay, I guess," he told her staring out the window once again.

"Didn't you see her last night? I saw her standing outside by your mustang last night on my way home."

"We talked briefly."

"Boz, you didn't."

"What?"

"Tell me you didn't dump her. You guys were doing so well together. You were always telling me how happy you were when you were with her."

"It wasn't working out."

"It's because of that domestic yesterday isn't it? Boz just because your dad..."

"Can we just drop it," Bosco said cutting her off

"Fine," Faith told him. Silence fell over the car again, though it was a struggle for Faith not to say the scolding words that were on the tip of her tongue. Sometimes Bosco frustrated her so much.

"55-David," came the call over the radio.

"55-David, here," Bosco said into the radio answering the call.

"EMT's are with a victim of a purse snatching on the corner of 86th and Lex. Please respond."

"10-4 Central," Bosco said hoping that Kim wasn't going to be one of the paramedics at the scene.

Faith turned the car around and headed back toward the intersection of 86th and Lex. As soon as she pulled the car up to the curb Bosco got a look at the ambulance that had responded to the incident. Boyd 55-3.

"Dammit," Bosco said as he and Faith got out of the squad. Faith just gave her partner a look not understanding his reaction.

The two officers made their way past the ambulance to where Alex and Kim were taking care of the victim. The victim was a women, about forty, dressed in a business suit. Her nose was bleeding but other than that she seemed to be okay.

"What have we got," Faith asked approaching the group with Bosco right behind her.

"She was walking home from work when she was pushed down. The person who pushed her down grabbed her purse. Got the call from a cabi who was driving by believe it or not."

"What's you name ma'am?" Faith asked taking out her pad and pen as she addressed the victim.

"Veronica Hill," the woman said.

"Did you get a look at who pushed you down?"

"It was a black guy. He had on jeans and a purple t-shirt. He was short."

"How short?"

"About his height," Veronica said, waving a hand in Bosco's direction. Alex couldn't completely hide her laugh at that comment. Bosco had always been sensitive about his height. Even Faith had a smile on her face.

"If you saw him again, do you think you would recognize him?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"Okay. Well we'll put this description out maybe we'll get lucky. Can you give me a number where you can be reached?"

The woman gave Faith the number.

"We would like to transport you to the hospital just as a precaution. Is that okay?" Alex said to Veronica who just nodded.

Kim got up and headed toward the ambulance not even glancing at Bosco. Faith followed her while Bosco radioed in the description they had gotten of the purse snatcher.

"Are you okay," Faith said softly as she helped Kim get the stretcher out of the ambulance.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"If you want to talk..."

"There's nothing to talk about. Bosco's a jerk. I knew it before I went out with him. Going out with him was a mistake. End of story."

"Okay," Faith said, as they approached the group. It appeared as if she wasn't going to get any further with Kim than she had with her partner.

"You guys got it from here?" Faith asked, addressing both paramedics.

"Yeah," Alex said.

"Alright then. We're done here," Faith said. She started walking toward the RMP and Bosco followed her.

"Central, David is 98," he said into his radio as they approached the squad. He got in the passenger seat and went back to staring out the window while Faith drove.

This is going to be a long shift Faith thought as they drove in silence. It wasn't long before another call came in for them. This one was for a fire at a Catholic school.

When the two officers arrived at the address for the school, they could see smoke coming out of the second floor windows. Kids and teachers were standing around outside and fire was not yet on the scene.

Faith hurried over to the closest adult she saw. "Is everyone out of the building?"

"I'm not sure," the woman she addressed asked. "I work in the office. The principal is checking with all of the teachers now."

"Where's the principal?" Faith asked her.

"Over there," she told Faith pointing across the crowd of kids to another woman who was moving from group to group.

"Okay thanks," Faith said.

"Anyone still inside?" Bosco asked her coming up beside her. Before Faith got a chance to answer, they heard a cry for help from somewhere above them. Both officers looked up to see a little boy standing in a second floor window. "Guess that answers that question," Bosco commented.

"Central we have at least one child still in the building," Faith radioed in.

"10-4 David. Fire and EMS are en route."

"Dammit," she heard her partner say and then start toward the building.

"Bosco, fire's on the way! Wait for the!"

"No way!" Bosco yelled back over his shoulder, not slowing down.

As her partner disappeared into the building Faith glanced back up at he kid in the second story window. When she did she realized why her partner had suddenly rushed into the burning building. She finally recognized the little boy in the window. It was Joey Doherty.


	3. Saving lives

From the looks of the first floor, you wouldn't even know the building was on fire. There was no smoke or anything. Bosco quickly made his way to the closest stairwell and started up the steps, two at a time.

When he came out of the door on the second floor, all he could see was smoke. The fire had raised the temperature on the floor but he had no indication of the location of the fire. Bosco quickly tried to orientate himself, and figure out which direction he needed to go.

Hoping he had his bearings correct, Bosco left the doorway of the stair well, and set out. "Joey," he called out. The smoke was getting worse as he walked. He had a feeling he was heading in the direction of the fire. "Joey, where are you?"

There was no answer to his first or second call. Bosco started opening doors and actually looking in the rooms. He had to find the kid.

"Joey," he called out a third time coming out of another room and heading down the hallway again. At least he knew he was on the right side of the building. The smoke was starting to burn his eyes and he could feel his chest tightening. He wasn't going to give up though.

Bosco kept moving forward, staying along the wall so he wouldn't miss a door. The smoke was thick and visibility wasn't getting worse.

"Joey, where are you," he called out again. This time he definitely heard a voice calling back for help. "Keep calling, Joey and I'll find you," Bosco managed to get out before starting to cough from the smoke.

He followed Joey's voice to a classroom, three more doors down. He put a hand up against the closed door to see if it was hot. Not feeling any major difference in the temperature of the door he grabbed the door handle and opened the door.

The room was still relatively clear of smoke, although now with the door opened the smoke from the hallway started creeping into the room. As Bosco made his way toward the window, Joey ran toward him. They met in the middle of the classroom and Bosco immediately picked the little boy up of the ground.

A quick glance out the window told him that fire had yet to arrive on the scene. With Joey safely in his arms, Bosco turned around and started for the door. He had to get them both out of the building and quickly. In the hallway the smoke was even thicker now. He couldn't see anything. Using the wall to make sure he kept going in the right direction Bosco started back in the direction of the stairs he had come up.

* * *

Faith had been keeping an eye on Joey. She had learned from the principal of the school that all of the other children had made it out of the building. As she heard the fire trucks approaching, she saw Joey disappear from the window. She hoped that meant that Bosco had found the little boy but no one returned to the window. As the fire trucks pulled up on scene, Faith turned around to address Lt. Johnson.

"You have one child still left in the building. He was in that second floor window, up until a couple minutes ago," Faith said pointing to the widow. "Bosco went in to find the kid and is still in there. The child is Jimmy's son."

"Damn," Lt. Johnson said under his breath as he went to brief his firefighters getting ready to go in. He would have to tell Jimmy that they were going to be looking for his son which wasn't going to be easy but he knew Jimmy would stay professional about it. His worry was how Kim would react when she got on the scene.

As soon as they got the okay from Lt. Johnson, Jimmy, and Walsh . , in full gear, headed into the burning building. They stayed together and headed for the closest stairwell, Jimmy leading the way. Jimmy was halfway up the steps when he met up with Bosco who was struggling to make his way down the stairs as he was starting to be overcome by the smoke.

Jimmy took his son out of Bosco's arms and handed him back to Walsh.

"Get Joey out of here," he told Walsh and then turned back to Bosco. Jimmy took one of Bosco's arms and pulled it across his shoulders while putting an arm around Bosco's waist to help support him. Between the heavy breathing and coughing spurts, Jimmy knew he had to get the officer out of the smoke-filled building.

By this time, the smoke was filling up the first floor of the building too. Reaching the bottom of the steps, Jimmy pushed open the door to the stairwell. As they made their way through the door way though, Bosco's legs went out. Jimmy went down with him, to keep him from completely falling. He could tell that he was supporting most of the officer's weight now.

"Bosco, you still with me?" Jimmy asked, as he knelt beside him. He leaned forward trying to get a look at the officer's face. He saw that Bosco still had his eyes open and noticed the other man nod in response to his question, unable to speak through the coughing fit.

Jimmy knew then that he was running out of time. "I'm gonna get you out of here," he told him, picking Bosco up. As quickly as he could, Jimmy made his way toward the exit of the building. Clearing the front door, he looked around for the paramedics he knew would be close by. He spotted Carlos and Doc waiting anxiously with a stretcher as close to the building as Lieu would let them be. Jimmy quickly carried Bosco over to them and placed him on the stretcher.

As the paramedics went to work Jimmy looked around for his son. He saw Joey sitting in Kim's lap over by Boyd 55-3. Joey was crying as Alex took vital signs but other than that he seemed to be okay. Jimmy let out a sigh of relief as he pulled off his mask. He headed in the direction of Next Jimmy, taking off his mask, made his way over to Lt. Johnson.

"What do you need me to do, Lieu?"

"Go help Walsh with the line. They located the fire on the second floor, rear at the opposite end that you and Walsh went into."

"You got it Lieu," Jimmy told him heading quickly to join his fellow firefighters.

Faith let out a sigh of relief as she saw Jimmy come out with Bosco. At least he had been found. She rushed over to him as Jimmy laid him down on the stretcher. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Bosco was still conscious though he seemed to be having some trouble breathing. She hung around, off to the side while Doc and Carlos checked Bosco out. She wanted to be near her partner but she also didn't want to be in the way.

"I think he's going to be okay," Doc said, glancing her direction after checking vital signs and lung sounds. Doc turned his attention back to Bosco. "I still want to transport you to the hospital though and have the doctors check you out just to be safe."

From beneath the oxygen mask, Bosco nodded in agreement. This was one time he didn't feel like arguing with the paramedics about a trip to the hospital. He looked away from Doc toward his partner and motioned her over. When she was standing next to him, he reached up and moved the oxygen mask away. "How's Joey?"

"He's with Kim. I'll go check and see how he's doing, okay?" Faith told him. Bosco nodded and put the oxygen mask back on before Doc or Carlos was able to say anything to him about it. "I'm going to ride over to the hospital with you guys, just give me a minute," Faith told Doc as she started walking toward Boyd 55-3.

"Okay," Doc said. "We'll get him loaded up and meet you at the bus."

Faith nodded as she walked away. On her way over to where Kim and Alex were she passed Ty and Sully who had arrived on scene.

"Is Bosco going to be okay?" Davis asked her.

"Yeah, they're going to take him to the hospital and let the docs at Mercy check him out though. Can you bring our squad over to Mercy, Davis? I want to ride over to the hospital with Bosco."

"Sure," Ty told her and Faith tossed him the keys and walked on.

"How's Joey?" Faith asked the two paramedics as she approached the back of their ambulance. Joey was still sitting in his mother's lap but had stopped crying at this time.

"He's fine," Kim replied. "The paramedic in me says he doesn't really need to be checked out at the hospital but the mother in me says differently."

Faith smiled, knowing how she felt. She didn't take chances when it came to Charlie and Emily either.

"How's Bosco?" Kim asked, trying to ignore the storm of emotions within. She was still mad at Bosco for the night before and yet she still cared about him. Not to mention, he had just gone into a burning building for her son.

"Doc said he'll be okay, but he wants the docs at Mercy to check him over," Faith told her. "I better get going. They're waiting on me to head over to the hospital."

As Faith started walking away Kim called out her name. Faith stopped and turned around to face the paramedic.

"Tell Bosco thanks for me," Kim asked her, knowing that the simple word didn't encompass the gratitude she was feeling inside.

"I will," Faith said and then walked over to Adam 55-3 where Doc stood outside the bus waiting for her. She climbed in the back with Bosco and Carlos. Doc shut the door and then climbed in the driver's seat and the were on their way to Mercy.

* * *

Faith was waiting by the nurse's station fifteen minutes later when Davis walked into the ER.

"Sill waiting?" Davis asked her.

"Yeah," Faith told him. "I'm use to it by now," Faith said referring to the numerous times she had waited in the ER over the years because of some stunt of Bosco's.

"Here's the keys," Davis said handing them over. "Sully's out in the car waiting for me. Swersky wants us back out on patrol. He also told me to tell you that the Captain wants to see you and Bosco back at the house as soon as you're done here."

"Okay, thanks Davis."

"No problem," Davis said and then left the ER.

Shortly after that Jimmy Doherty made his way into the ER. He was still in his fire gear minus the mask and gloves and he was still covered in soot. Faith figured he had come over right from the fire. Kim and Alex had brought Joey in to be checked out right before Davis had come in. Faith figured Jimmy was here checking up on his son.

"Hey Faith," Jimmy said stopping in front of her. "How's Bosco?"

"They're just checking him over as a precautionary measure, but he should be fine," Faith said nodded in the direction of the room where Dr. Morallis was checking out Bosco.

Jimmy nodded and then headed in that direction. He knocked quickly and then cracked the door. "Okay if I come in?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, sure," Morallis said, glancing up quickly.

Jimmy stepped inside the door and shut it behind him. Bosco was sitting on the side of the exam bed starting to look impatient at being at the hospital. Jimmy knew that with Bosco that was a good sign that he was okay.

"Hey Bosco, I just wanted to say thank-you for going in after my son."

"No problem," Bosco said. "I was just doing my job," he told Jimmy trying to make light of the situation. He didn't like Doherty and was uncomfortable with this whole situation.

"No you weren't. You were suppose to wait for fire not enter the building on your own. This is one time I'm glad you didn't follow the rules."

"You're welcome," Bosco said quietly.

Jimmy nodded and then left the room. He ran into nurse Proctor and asked her where Joey was.

"He's in exam two with Kim," Proctor told him.

"Thanks," Jimmy said starting in the direction of exam two.

Opening the door to exam two he found Kim sitting on the exam bed with Joey in her lap. Joey had his eyes closed with his head resting on Kim's shoulders.

"Is he okay?" Jimmy asked Kim as he came into the room.

"Yeah, he's just sleeping. I just want a doctor to check him out just to be safe," Kim said.

"Where's Alex?"

"Waiting in the bus. We'll drop Joey off at my mom's on the way back to the station. Then I'll pick him up after my shift is over."

"Okay," Jimmy said. " If everything is okay I guess I'll head back to the station myself," he told her walking over to kiss his son's forehead. He then left the hospital. Kim didn't seem to need him and neither did Joey.

As he walked out of the ER he saw Bosco standing with Faith at the nurse's station. Faith was handing him his gun belt to put on. She nodded to him as he walked by. This was one shift that Jimmy just wanted to get over with and then go out and have a few beers with his buddies.

"I still think you should have gone in and seen Kim before you left the ER," Faith told her partner as she drove back to the station.

"Why? You said Joey was okay. That's all that matters," Bosco told her although, inside he had wanted go in to check on her and Joey. He really wanted to be there for her not heading to see the Captain. But he had broken up with her. He knew she didn't want to see him. She hadn't even checked to see how he was as far as he knew.

"Stop fooling yourself Bosco," Faith told him sounding exasperated.

"What are you talking about?"

"I've never seen you care about someone like you do Kim and Joey. Stop trying to convince me and yourself that you don't just because your afraid to let yourself care for someone."

"I'm not afraid."

"Yes you are," Faith told him forcefully. "Everything was fine until that domestic yesterday. You broke up with her because you think you're going to do what that guy did to his wife. That you're going to turn out like your father."

Bosco looked over at his partner ready to deny what she was saying. Then he saw the look on her face. Bosco had worked with Faith long enough to know when she had about had it with him. She was at that point now. She knew she was right and she wasn't going to give up until he admitted she was right.

"Kim deserves someone better," he told her.

"Oh don't try pulling that with me. You two love each other. That's what matters."

"How do you know she loves me."

"She told me."

"She did?"

"Yes. Not to mention that even after you broke up with her, I could still see she was worried about you back at the school. And she did ask me how you were."

"She did?"

"Not to mention Boz, I know you love her too. Of all the women you ever went out with, even Niclole, I think Kim's the only one you've treated with any respect. You're not bragging about the guys at the station about her which is like a miracle for you."

"I really screwed up this time didn't I?" Bosco said giving in to his partner but not admitting it out loud.

"Yeah you did," Faith told him knowing she had won. "But it doesn't have to be to late. Go talk to her."

"She won't take me back," Bosco said.

"She may if you're honest with her Bosco. And I mean truly honest with her. Tell her about your father. Tell her what your afraid of. Give her the opportunity to see the real you and then make her decision. You might be surprised."

"Maybe I will," Bosco said, looking out the window but not really seeing anything. In fact the rest of the ride back to the station was driven in silence. Bosco wasn't sure what he was going to do but he found himself seriously thinking about following his partner's advice. After all what did he have to lose.

At the station, Faith and Bosco headed into the station. Lt. Swersky was at the desk and told Faith and Bosco to wait outside the Captain's office. They waited in silence. Faith wasn't sure what to say to her partner and Bosco for once was keeping his mouth shut. He just wasn't in the mood for talking.

They had been waiting for five minutes when the Captain finally opened the door to his office and told them to come inside. They went inside and took the two seats the Captain indicated.

"Just what did you think you were doing out there, Boscorelli," the Captain demanded. "Running into a burning building. Department policy says that you secure the area and wait for fire. Not risk your life running into a burning building."

"There wasn't time to wait for fire," Bosco said finally, finding his voice again to defend himself. "I wasn't go to just stand there watching a kid yell for help when I could do something about it."

"It was a stupid stunt," the Captain told him.

"He saved a kid's life, sir," Faith said trying to help her partner out.

"Yeah there is that isn't there. And the Chief seems to agree with you, Faith," the Captain said his tone growing less harsh. "A commendation is being placed in your jacket Boscorelli but I don't ever want to hear of you pulling a stunt like that again." Even as he said the words though he knew Boscorelli wasn't going to listen. Boscorelli acted on instinct which meant if the situation came up again, he would do the same exact thing.

"Thank-you sir," Bosco said in disbelief.

"Now get cleaned up and I want the two of you back out there," the Captain told them.

"Yes sir," both Bosco and Faith said standing up and leaving the office.


	4. Apologizing

After the shift Bosco quickly got changed into street clothes. He left the precinct without even talking to Faith and headed over to the 55 fire station hoping to catch Kim before she left.

"Hey Carlos, Kim still around," Bosco called as he saw paramedic Carlos Nieto come out of the fire station.

"Yeah, she should be down shortly," Carlos answered not stopping to talk. He briefly wondered what it was that Bosco wanted with Kim but he had a hot date waiting and couldn't dwell on it.

Bosco leaned up against the building and waited for Kim to come down. It was only a few minutes later when she came strolling outside.

"Kim," Bosco called as she walked by him. She kept walking like she didn't even hear him. "Kim can we please talk?" Bosco pleaded following her down the street.

"I've got to pick Joey up at my mother's," she told him, without even breaking stride.

"I'll give you a ride," Bosco tried.

"No thanks," Kim said. She had no intention of talking to him. She wasn't even interested in hearing what he had to say.

Seeing that he was getting nowhere Bosco admitted defeat. Maybe he had been stupid to even think that she would be willing to listen. He had been the one to break off the relationship with no explanation. He really didn't deserve a second chance anyway. Bosco turned and headed for his mustang still parked outside the precinct.

As Bosco crossed the street to his car Kim glanced over her shoulder at him. Part of her wanted to listen to what he had to say. She had to admit she still loved him but he had hurt her. She knew she had to stop letting the men she dated walk all over her. She resisted the urge to call after him and continued to head for the subway and then to her mother's to pick up her son.

Kim had just gotten her son tucked into his bed in her apartment when she heard the door buzzer ring signaling that there was someone waiting outside the apartment building. Wondering who it could possibly at this late hour she headed over to the intercom.

"Who's there?" Kim asked into the intercom.

"Kim, its Bosco. I really want to talk to you. Will you please at least listen to me?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not interested in talking?"

"Kim, please. I'm sorry. I was a jerk to do what I did. I don't really expect you to forgive me but please just give me a chance to explain. After that I promise that if you still feel the same way as you do now, I 'll leave you alone for good. Please Kim?"

Something in his voice made Kim wonder what he had to say. He was acting very uncharacteristically for Bosco which made her curious in itself. Plus she had to admit, that even though he had hurt her she still cared for him very much.

"Okay, come on up for a few minutes," Kim said, pushing the button that released the front door. A few minutes later she heard a soft knock at the door. She checked the peep hole to make sure it was Bosco standing outside and then opened the door.

"Please keep it down. I just got Joey back to sleep," Kim said as Bosco came into the apartment and Kim closed the door behind him. She indicated for him to have a seat on the couch and when he did she sat in the near by easy chair and waited for him to begin.

"I'm not sure where to begin," Bosco said, suddenly finding it hard to figure out what he wanted to say now that he actually had a chance to talk to her. Most of his thought had been given to just figuring out how to get her to listen to him?

"An explanation would be nice," Kim found herself saying. Though she had tried denying it to herself she really did want to know why Bosco had broke up with her. She had thought their relationship was going well.

Bosco took a deep breath before saying, "Look, Kim the reason I called off the relationship had nothing to do with you. It's about me and it took Faith to get me to admit to myself that the whole reason I broke up with you is that I was scared."

"Scared of a commitment?" Kim asked.

"Not exactly." Bosco said. "I haven't told anyone except for Faith about what it was like growing up in my family. Ever since I was little the only memories I have of my father are ones of him being violent. He use to come home drunk and take it out on my mother. Him hitting her in a rage seemed to be an every night thing. And if he couldn't get a hold of her, he was more than happy to use my little brother or me as targets for his anger. It wasn't long before my brother and I learned to hide but even hiding didn't drown out the noise. I didn't need to see him hitting her to know what was going on. I even saw it in my dreams."

Kim found herself leaning forward listening to what Bosco was saying. She was horrified at his story. She couldn't imagine having to grow up like that. Sure her own father had walked out on them and her mother had dated some losers but none of them had ever abused her mother.

"I've often heard that kids who grow up seeing that kind of stuff end up doing it themselves and when Faith and I answered that domestic yesterday all those memories came flooding back. Its not that I'm afraid of commitment Kim, I'm afraid of turning out like my father," he finished quickly wiping away a few tears that had fallen.

Kim got up from the chair and sat down next to Bosco on the couch. She put her arm around his shoulders. "Just because you grow up seeing something doesn't mean that you necessarily grow up doing that yourself," Kim said reassuringly.

"I could never live with myself if I ever did anything like that to you. I thought by breaking up with you I'd be protecting you and Joey. What if I am just like my father? Heaven knows, I've got a temper. Just ask anyone on the 55. At that domestic yesterday, I wanted so much to give that guy a pounding. Show him what it felt like to be someone's punching bag. It got me thinking, how close am I to being just like that."

"I don't think your close at all Bosco. The fact that you recognize that its wrong, I think that's what sets you apart from that guy at the domestic and your father," Kim told him softly. "Sure you're not exactly the most affectionate person I know but you do care about people, Bosco."

He wasn't sure what to say to her words, even as he nodded. "Look, I've got no right to ask you to take me back. However, I just wanted you to know that it wasn't your fault. You're a great person, Kim and you're going to make some guy very lucky someday." Bosco slowly got to his feet. "It's late, I should be going," Bosco said heading for the door.

Kim wanted to tell him to wait. Not to go. But she couldn't bring herself to say those words. Part of her still wasn't sure if she should take Bosco back though in her heart, she knew she wanted to. She watched silently as Bosco left the apartment. As the door shut behind him she found that she was crying once again.

* * *

The next day, Kim left for work early. She had spent most of the night thinking about Bosco and what he had told her. Also, about how she felt about him. She had finally decided she wasn't ready to let him walk out of her life. She also knew the ball was in her court this time, which was why she found herself hanging around outside of the police precinct. The blue mustang was nowhere to be seen so she knew that Bosco had not showed up yet. She nodded to some of the police officers that she knew as they headed inside to get ready for her shift. Shortly she saw the blue mustang pull into a parking spot in front of the precinct.

Seeing her standing there by the building, Bosco slowly got out of the car and headed toward where she was standing.

"Kim?" Bosco said questionably as he approached where she was standing.

"I did a lot of thinking after you left last night, Bosco, and the one thing I finally had to admit was that despite the fact that you can be a jerk, and you're not exactly the easiest person to like, somewhere along the line I fell in love with you."

"What are you saying, Kim?" Bosco asked. He knew what he wanted her words to mean, but he needed to hear those words from her. "Does that mean you're willing to give me a second chance?" he asked her softly.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Kim said. She reached out and pulled Bosco close and for the first time since they had started going out she didn't care who saw them together. Maybe hiding, their relationship had been a mistake in the first place.

Bosco returned her hug and then pulled away.

"I've got to hurry up or I'm going to be late again," Bosco told her. "I'll see you after the shift though, right?"

"Of course," Kim said, giving him a quick kiss and then heading across the street.

Bosco watched her cross the street and then turned to head on into the precinct. As he looked toward the steps though he found Sully, Ty, and a couple others from the third watch staring at him.

"What are you guys looking at?" Bosco said going up the steps and past his co-workers.

"Kim and Bosco," Davis said to no one in particular. "Now I've seen everything."

"Tell me about it," Sully said and then headed into the precinct followed closely by Davis and the others.


	5. Reactions

"So is that why you've been so quiet lately?" asked Davis in the locker room of the 55 precinct. The third watch was hurrying to get ready for role call.

"What's it to you anyway?" Bosco said irritated.

"Oh, touchy this afternoon, are we?" commented Sully, as he took his gun out of his locker.

"What the hell is the sudden interest in my love life anyway. Any other time I ever mentioned anything about anyone I was seeing you could care less."

"Oh, so you and Kim are seeing each other," Davis said.

"I never said that."

"Yeah, don't you know he kisses every paramedic he sees on the street," Larson commented as he walked out of the locker room.

"Very funny," Bosco called after him, putting his gun in his holster, closing his locker and following Larson out of the locker room.

"Nice of you to join us on time today, Boscorelli," Lt. Swersky said from his spot at the podium in front of the role call room.

"I'm having a good day today, Boss," Bosco replied, as the officers already in the room laughed at the lieutenant's remark. He took a seat at the empty desk beside Faith.

A few minutes later all of the third watch was gathered in the role call room. Lt. Swersky quickly went through the items he had for the watch that day and sent them out on their patrols.

"Did you talk to Kim last night, Boz?" Faith asked as she opened the passenger side door of their RMP and got in.

"Yes," Bosco said as he got in the driver's seat. "And amazingly I actually got her to listen."

"And," Faith said wondering if her partner was being difficult on purpose or if he was doing it without meaning to.

"And I guess we're back together," Bosco said as he eased the car into the New York City traffic. "I'm just lucky that Kim is a very understanding person."

"Bosco, anyone you go out with has to be an understanding person."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Come on Bosco, you're not exactly a saint here. You usually manage to piss at least five people off during your shift. You shoot your mouth off before thinking 99% of the time and Hallmark would definitely never hire you to think up sayings for their greeting cards."

"Thanks a lot, " Bosco said to his partner, hurt by her words but able to see the truth in her words.

Before Faith could try to smooth over the situation a call for them came over the radio. . Faith was stopped from saying anything else by the call coming through for them on the radio. It looked like it was going to be another long shift.

* * *

"So what's going on with you and Bosco?" Jimmy asked, as he came into the firehouse that same afternoon and found Kim sitting at the table chatting with Alex.

"And good afternoon to you too," Kim replied, a little put off by Jimmy barging in asking questions about her personal life, especially after some of his past relationships.

"Don't dodge my question Kim. Walsh just told me he saw you two kissing in front of the precinct not too long ago."

"I don't see where it is any of your business but so what if I was," Kim told him, not looking up at him.

"Come on Kim, Boscorelli!" Jimmy said, the loudness of his voice drawing the attention of the rest of their co-workers in the area. "The guy is a jerk!"

"Have you looked in a mirror lately,"Kim said, starting to get angry with her ex-husband. It was well known that there had never been any love lost between Jimmy and Bosco. In fact, the two often were at odds. And yes, Bosco could have the personality as prickly as a porcupine sometimes, but that didn't give Jimmy any right to tell her she couldn't be with him. Kim couldn't believe his nerve, especially after he had cheated on her with her sister as well as cheating on his second wife at their engagement party. "And I married you," Kim said standing up and heading for the steps that led up to where the lockers were.

"I can't believe her," Jimmy said to no one in particular although Alex was now the closest person to him. Alex just calmly picked up a near by newspaper and started to pretend to read it. She had no intention of getting in between anything to do with Kim and Doherty. Jimmy walked into the other room without saying anything else and turned on the tv.

Alex discreetly looked up from her newspaper as Doherty sat down on the couch. She was secretly wondering exactly what was going on but she wasn't going to say anything around the fire house. She'd wait until she was out on a run with Kim and then casually bring it up.

As she looked back down at the newspaper and actually started to read the headlines, a call came in, for 55-Boyd.. ~_Looks like I won't have to wait long,_~Alex thought, as she put the paper down on the table and stood up. Kim came hurrying down the steps from the third floor and together the two paramedics headed to the ground floor and to their waiting ambulance.

After dropping a teenager suffering from asthma off at Mercy, Alex and Kim headed back out to the ambulance. As Alex climbed in the passenger side, Kim got behind the wheel and started the vehicle. Alex took a few minutes to consider how to bring up the topic she wanted to discuss with her partner and friend.

"So, are you and Bosco an item?" Alex finally asked, not able to think of any subtle way to start the conversation.

"You know that terminology always makes me think of a grocery store. Like an item on a grocery list that someone wants to buy," Kim commented, not really answering her partner's question.

"Kim!"

"Well, I guess its not exactly a secret anymore," Kim said from the passenger seat. "Bosco and I have been seeing each other for secretly for a while now."

"And you didn't tell me!"

"Neither one of us wanted a lot of people to know. If it didn't work out, we wanted to avoid the awkwardness that would follow. I also didn't want to deal with the questions on my sanity that I knew I would be fielding when people find out."

"A valid concern," Alex commented with a nod. "So seeing as you were reportedly kissing him in front of the firehouse, that means it is going well."

"Well, I guess you could call that kiss a make-up kiss," Kim told her. She could sense that her partner wanted more information after that comment. Deciding not to make her partner keep asking questions, Kim continued. 'He broke up with me the other day with no explanation. And then last night he came and explained things and apologized. I spent a lot of time thinking things over, and thinking about the time I spent with him. I decided I wasn't ready to let all that go so easily, so I guess we're giving it another go."

"That's great," Alex said.

Kim shot her partner a look. She was trying to decide if Alex was being sarcastic or not. Alex caught her looking at her through the corner of her eye.

"I really mean it," Alex said. "I think you need someone in your life and I've always thought there was something between you and Bosco anyway."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think he's had a crush on you since I got here. Bosco just doesn't know how to act around women when he's serious about them."

"So you really don't think it's a bad idea?" Kim asked. "I mean Jimmy is partly right. Bosco isn't exactly prince charming."

"Don't listen to Jimmy. He's probably just jealous."

"You think?"

"Yes. Besides, he did the same thing to Brooke as he did to you. I think that is pretty good proof that he isn't going to change. You need to move on. Find someone who is really going to care about you, not just having you. Someone who is going to care about Joey. I've seen how Bosco and Joey get along when you've had Joey here at the beginning or ending of a shift. Joey obviously adores Bosco and Bosco cares about Joey. I mean he went into a burning building unprotected for him. That's got to count for something."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point," Kim said finally smiling. Maybe she wasn't making a mistake taking Bosco back.

* * *

After the shift that night Bosco walked out of the precinct building chatting with Faith. They were still discussing one of the calls of the night that Faith didn't agree with the way that Bosco had handled it.

Bosco stopped defending himself to his partner in mid sentence when he noticed someone waiting by his mustang. It was Jimmy Doherty.

"Just great," Bosco muttered.

"Don't do anything stupid, Boz," Faith told her partner.

"Who, me," Bosco said innocently.

Faith let out a sigh and followed her partner over to her car. There were times that she felt a responsibility to keep her partner out of trouble, whether they were on the job or not. This was one of those times.

"What do you want, Doherty?" Bosco called out as he approached.

"I want you to stay away from Kim."

"I don't think that's your call. She's a big girl. She can make her own decisions."

"She isn't thinking right. If she was she wouldn't be dating you. She'd see through your act."

"What act?"

"Come on Bosco. You've never been serious about anyone in your life."

"Like you have. At least I haven't ever pretended to be and then slept with someone else after you're married or at your engagement party."

"This isn't about me," Jimmy said getting angry that Bosco would even bring that stuff up. What business was it of his anyways. "This is about you and the fact that you have never been serious about anyone and you never will be. Don't use Kim."

"Use her? What like you did when you slept with her sister when you were married to her," Bosco replied."You don't know a thing about our relationship, Jimmy and frankly, its none of your business. You have no claim on her and you might as well face it, your not getting her back, so why don't you just deal with that and get on with your own pathetic life."

"You son-of-a-bitch," Jimmy said and started to go after Bosco but Faith jumped in between the two of them.

"Jimmy you don't want to do that," Faith said seriously as she stood between them. Though she was staring down Jimmy she was also staying alert for any signs that her partner was going to go after Jimmy.

"If you hurt Kim or Joey, that uniform ain't going to help you any Bosco," Doherty said walking back across the street. He passed Kim on the way but couldn't look at her.

"What was that about?" Kim asked as she rushed over to where Bosco and Faith were standing watching Jimmy retreat.

"Doherty was just expressing his feeling about us going out," Bosco told her putting an arm around her shoulder. " I wouldn't worry about it. Nothing was exchange but words."

"Yeah, just barely," Faith muttered and Bosco shot his partner a look.

"Can I offer you ladies a ride home?" Bosco asked getting the subject off of the scene that just took place with Doherty.

"No thanks," Faith said. "The walk will do me good. Give me time to clear my head before getting home to Fred. See you tomorrow Boz," she said as she started walking in direction of home.

Kim took advantage of Bosco's offer. Joey was with Jimmy tonight so when Bosco pulled up outside of her apartment she invited him upstairs. It was almost two o'clock in the morning when Bosco finally left Kim's place and headed home himself.


	6. The appeal

As the days went by Bosco found himself falling more in love with Kim. He had admired her for a long time but had always figured that she would never go for him. However, this wasn't like all of his past relationships. It wasn't all about the sex in fact they hadn't even done that yet. Kim said she wasn't ready and for the first time Bosco found that he could accept that and still be with a woman. After all Kim's life hadn't been a bed of roses here lately and she already had one son that she had been raising as a single mother. Bosco couldn't blame her for not wanting to take the risk of having to raise a second child alone.

However, as the days went by, he became even surer that he wasn't going to let that happen. He was falling deeper in love with her the more they talked and got to know each other. Bosco found himself telling her stuff about his past that he had never told anyone, not even Faith. In return she started telling him things. Kim even started talking to Bosco about Bobby's death and how she felt afterwards. She never did come right out and say if her suicide attempt had been on purpose and Bosco figured he didn't need to know. He didn't want to think about how he would react if anything ever happened to Faith but deep down he doubted he would handle it any better than Kim had the death of her partner.

As for Joey, Bosco couldn't help but fall in love with him too. Whenever Kim had him the three of them would do stuff together. Kim loved the fact that she had found a guy who wanted to include her son in the things they did. It meant a lot to her. She started to see that Alex had been right when she said that Bosco cared about Joey. And Joey enjoyed being around Bosco. Kim had to admit that in the last couple of weeks she had been the happiest she had been in a long time. There was only one thing that could ruin her mood and that was the upcoming custody hearing.

Kim was finishing doing her hair when the buzzer for the door rang. She walked over to the door and pushed the intercom button.

"Who's there?" she asked.

"It's me, Kim," came Bosco's voice over the intercom.

"Come on up," she said hitting the button to let him through the front door. She opened the door to her apartment and waited for Bosco to come upstairs. When he finally stepped out of the elevator she was surprised at how he was dressed. Instead of his normal jeans, t shirt and leather jacket Bosco was dressed in dress shoes, dress pants, a long sleeved dress shirt and a tie.

~_He looks good_,~ Kim couldn't help but think as she watched him walk down the hall toward her.

"What's with the clothes?" is what she asked out loud though.

"You have a custody hearing this afternoon right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm going with you for moral support."

"You don't have to," Kim told him. She hadn=t even asked him to because she hadn=t been sure he would want to go. Somehow, not asking and giving him the chance of declining had been easier to deal with than the possibility of him telling her no. She was touched at the thought that he was basically volunteering to go.

"I know that, but I want to be there for you, Kim. I know how important this is to you. How much Joey means to you. That makes it important to me.

"Thank you," Kim managed to get out as she started feeling choked up. His show of support meant a lot. She gave him a quick hug and then pulled away saying, "Come on in while I finish getting ready." Kim ushered him into her apartment and closed the door behind them.

Kim quickly finished getting ready and then her and Bosco headed for the courthouse. They arrived ten minutes early and the only ones in the courtroom already were the bailiff and the two lawyers. Kim made her way to the front and took the seat next to her lawyer while Bosco took a seat toward the front of the courtroom behind them.

Mrs. Zambrano came in shortly after with Joey. As Kim's mom took a seat next to Bosco Joey ran up to the front to Kim.

"Hi Mommy," he said excitedly.

Kim stopped her conversation with her lawyer and picked her son up and gave him a hug.

"Hi Joey. How was school?"

"Okay. We're making paper bag puppets in art class. Mine is going to be a firefighter. My play is next week. Are you coming?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Kim said. She had already gotten one of the first watch paramedics to switch shifts with her so that she could go. She hadn't told Joey yet, but Bosco would be there too as he had taken personal time to go with her.

"Great. Daddy said he couldn't make," Joey said growing sad.

"Well it's hard for him to get off work for everything," Kim said knowing that Jimmy had been going crazy trying to get off next Friday. Of course if he hadn't forgotten about it until he had overheard Kim telling Alex about it yesterday he might have had better luck. "But I'm going to be there and grandma is going to be there." When Joey didn't seem to cheer up any she decided to tell her about Bosco. "And Bosco is going to come to. You'll have plenty of people applauding for you."

"Okay," Joey said cheering up a little bit.

"Now, why don't you go sit with Grandma, okay," Kim told him.

"Okay," Joey said and after giving his mother a quick hug and then going to join his grandmother.

The bailiff requested that all present stand as Judge Tiffany Albert entered the courtroom. As they all stood Kim noticed that Jimmy had yet to arrive. ~_That shouldn't really surprise me any_,~ Kim thought. He had been late to every hearing and meeting they had during this custody battle. As the judge had them sit back down Jimmy came rushing in the courtroom still dressed in his fire gear.

"Thank you for joining us Mr. Doherty," Judge Albert commented as Jimmy sat down next to his lawyer.

"I'm sorry I'm late your honor," Jimmy said quickly. He was about to say something else but the judge held her hand up.

"I don't want to hear it. Let's get down to business. We're here today to consider the appeal made by Ms Zambrano for custody of her son. I've reviewed the reports from the previous hearings and have talked to Dr. Carter concerning Ms. Zambrano's counseling. Is there anything new to add."

"We do your honor," Jimmy's lawyer said.

"Proceed."

"My client has expressed concerned over Ms. Zambrano's current boyfriend. He's afraid he may be a bad influence on Joey."

Kim cringed, expecting Bosco to go off. He and Jimmy never had gotten along and she wasn't surprised that Jimmy would try to use the fact that she was seeing him to his advantage. For once, Bosco used good judgment and kept his mouth shut.

"Oh please," Kim said from where she was seated. She wasn't about to let the accusation slide. "You're one to talk Jimmy after some of the women you've dated."

Judge Albert banged her gavel on the desk to regain order as her lawyer tried to calm Kim down.

"Is your boyfriend here today Ms. Zambrano?" Judge Albert asked.

"Yes I am," Bosco said standing up before Kim could answer.

"Your name please?"

"Maurice Boscorelli."

"Mr. Boscorelli, what is your profession please?" asked Judge Albert.

"I'm a New York City police officer."

That wasn't the answer that the Judge had been expecting. "And what exactly is your problem with Mr. Boscorelli, Mr. Doherty because it sure isn't his profession."

"No, I have the upmost respect for him professionally. It's his past personal life that I have issues with."

"Anything specifically that is current, while he has been seeing Ms. Zambrano."

"No," Jimmy admitted.

"Well thenm when we take into consideration your last marriage, I don't think that Ms. Zambrano's current relationship should be any of your concern."

"I'd like to speak with Joey in my chambers for a moment," Judge Ablert said.

Mrs. Zambrano went back to the judges chambers with her grandson. While they were gone there was quiet murmurs throughout the courtroom as people chatted quietly amongst themselves. The chatter came to a stop as the Judge, Joey and his grandmother reentered the courtroom.

Judge Albert took her seat and then waited for Joey and Mrs. Zambrano to get seated before addressing the room.

"Does either side has anything else relevant to add?" she asked and then paused as she glanced at each party. When no one ventured to say anything else she continued.

"After talking to Joey and reviewing all the information I have, I have decided that there should be a change in the custody arrangements. I feel that Joey would be safe and well cared for no matter which parent he is with. I'm therefore granting joint custody with time being split equally between the two of you. Mr. Doherty and Ms. Zambrano, I'm trusting you two to be adults and sort out how you want to split that time without my help. This hearing is over with," the judge told those gathered and then got up and left the courtroom.

"Congratulations, honey," Mrs. Zambrano said coming forward and giving her daughter a hug. "I know it isn't exactly what you wanted but it's a start."

"Yeah, I'm happy with the outcome," Kim told her.

"Does this mean I get to spend more time with you," Joey asked, as he and Bosco joined Kim and her mom.

"Yes, sweetie," Kim told her son.

"Kim," Jimmy said coming over. "We'll need to set up a time to meet with our lawyers and work out a schedule. I'll give you a call."

"Okay," Kim said as Jimmy left the courtroom not looking all that happy. He gave Bosco a look as he walked out but didn't say anything.

"Are you going to take him now?" Mrs. Zambrano asked her daughter.

"Yeah, thanks for picking him up from school, Mom," Kim said.

"No problem. Bye Kim. Bye Joey," Mrs. Zambrano said and then left.

By this time it was just Kim, Bosco, and Joey left in the courtroom.

"How about we all go out for dinner to celebrate?" Bosco asked Kim as they were both off that evening.

"Sounds good to me," Kim said. "What do you say Joey?" she asked looking down at her son.

"Sounds like fun," Joey said.

"Where would you like to go?" Bosco asked him.

"Hard Rock Café," Joey said quickly. Kim never could figure out what Joey liked about the Hard Rock but for some reason it was his favorite place to it.

"The Hard Rock it is then," Bosco said.

Kim took her son's hand as they headed out of the courtroom and then Joey reached up and took Bosco's hand. As the three of them made their way out to the car, Kim could help but think about how right it felt.


	7. Looking for that perfect something

"So what kind of arrangement did you guys finally settle on?" Alex asked as she and Kim cleaned and organized the ambulance outside of the fire house a couple of weeks after the hearing.

"We're switching off every two week. Joey's with Jimmy right now until the end of the week and then Sunday he'll come and stay with me for a week."

"What about holidays?" Alex asked her partner as she reorganized the stuff in one of the cabinets on the side of the ambulance.

"We haven't quite figured that out yet," Kim admitted as she picked garbage up off the floor and threw it in a trash bag. "I don't think its fair for us to always have him on the same holiday and at the same time, there are certain holidays, Christmas for example, that I think Joey needs to spend some time with both of us." Kim shrugged. "Right now I'm just happy to be able to spend more time with Joey."

Before either Alex or Kim could say anything else they heard a familiar voice float over form across the street.

"Why don't you do us all a favor and exercise your right to be silent?" Bosco was saying as he and Faith got out of their squad car with a prisoner.

"Why don't you make me?" the prisoner shot back.

"I could find something to stuff in your mouth," Bosco told him.

"Yeah, I'd like to see you try it."

"I wouldn't tempt him if I were you," Faith told the prisoner dryly. She wouldn't put it past her partner to try and carry out his threat if the prisoner kept running his mouth much longer.

Alex and Kim laughed as the two cops and their prisoner disappeared into the precinct.

"Nice to know some things will never change," Alex commented. "So how is the relationship with Bosco going anyways?"

"It's going well actually," Kim said. "I'm not sure Maurice is ready to make any commitments any time soon though."

"And you're okay with that?"

"I think where we're at right now is good," Kim said thoughtfully. "Besides I rushed into marriage one time and look how that ended up."

"True. Waiting probably is a good idea."

"And you might not believe it but Maurice is great with Joey," Kim said as she grabbed her trash bag and climbed out of the bus. Having finished her task Alex was right behind her.

"You're right I don't believe it. Are we talking about the same Bosco here?"

"He's like a whole different person when he's around Joey. More upbeat and not as sarcastic."

"I bet that's a nice change," Alex said as they headed into the fire house and up the steps.

"He, is really a great guy once you get past his rough exterior and get to know him."

"Sounds like you've figured out what Faith has known for years," Alex said. The fire fighters and the paramedics at the 55, along with Sully and Ty, had often wondered how Faith put up with Bosco day in and day out. The only thing they could ever figure out was that Faith knew something about Bosco that the rest of them didn't.

"Yeah, maybe I have," Kim said with a smile.

As they came into the kitchen area they saw Jimmy hanging with Walsh and D.K. and both women wisely dropped their line of conversation. Jimmy was still having problems with Kim going out with Bosco. Kim had a feeling that Jimmy was never going to accept it but that was his problem not hers.

* * *

"We done here now?" Bosco asked his partner fifteen minutes after they had brought the prisoner in that Alex and Kim had seen them with. Bosco wanted to get out of the station and back on the streets.

"Yeah," Faith said standing up. "Just let me turn this report in," Faith told him grabbing her coat and standing up.

Bosco followed his partner as she walked over to the desk and turned in the report on the arrest.

"Hey look its lover boy," Sully said falling into step beside him. He and Ty were heading back out after a meeting with Lt. Swersky about an arrest they had made a week ago. The guy they had arrested was filing a complaint and Swersky had wanted Sully and Ty's version of what had happened.

"Shut up," Bosco said without humor.

"Ooohhh, touchy today are we." Sully said. When Bosco didn't say anything else Sully said "Come on Bosco lighten up. This is the longest relationship you've ever been in."

"Yeah, counting the time you were keeping it quiet this has gone on longer than your relationship with Nicole," Faith said.

"Great, so now you're ganging up on me too," Bosco said turning on his partner. "A guy can't have a relationship around here without someone thinking he's going to screw it up somehow."

"No, just you Bosco," Sully said.

"Okay, I'll be in the car," Bosco told his partner. "When you two get done insulting me you can come join me and we'll get back to work."

Sully and Faith watched as Bosco stormed out of the precinct.

"He's really serious about Kim, isn't he?" Sully said as they watched the door shut behind Bosco.

"Yes, he is," Faith said regretting her comment although her partner had taken it the wrong way.

Without another word she headed outside to her RMP. As she approached the car she was surprise to see her partner now sitting in the passenger seat. He had been driving earlier and usually once he got a hold of the keys he wouldn't give them up.

Faith got over her surprise and slowly made her way to the driver's side of the car and got in. Bosco had already put the keys in the ignition. She turned the car on and pulled out into the New York City traffic without saying anything. She waited to see if her partner would say something first. When he didn't she finally broke the silence.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean to upset you," Faith told him, not really expecting a response but wanting to get it out there. Her partner surprised her by answering.

"Its just that if you guys think that then what does Kim think?" Bosco said.

"What do you mean?"

Bosco let out a sigh. He might as well tell his partner because she'd get it out of him eventually.

"Its just that... I mean if..." Bosco couldn't figure out exactly how to say what was on his mind. He wasn't use to talking about things of this nature. Faith waited patiently. She knew if she tried to push him he wouldn't say anything. "What do you think Kim's reaction would be if I were to propose to her?" Bosco finally asked.

"Are you serious?" Faith said without thinking. She regretted saying it as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

"You see! Kim would probably think I wasn't serious either. No one who knows me thinks I can take a relationship serious and I can't really say I blame them."

"Bosco, I really don't think she would laugh at you or anything. To tell you the truth I think she'd say yes."

"Really or are you just saying that?"

"Have you ever known me to say something about something this serious and not mean it?"

"Okay, point taken," Bosco said starting to feel better.

"Are you really serious about settling down?" Faith couldn't help but ask. She had always thought that once her partner grew up a little bit and met the right person that he would make a great husband and a great father. She had seen him with her kids and now with Joey. He was good with kids. She just didn't think it would've been this soon.

"Yes I am. I really enjoy being with Kim. She makes me feel complete and I love Joey. I just need to make Kim understand that I'm serious."

"Just be honest, Boz," Faith told him. "She may say yes or she may say no but if you really love her you'll take that chance at rejection to find out."

"You're right, as usual," Bosco told her.

"Hey I've been your partner for how long? You give me plenty of practice a being right."

"Cute," Bosco told her, the comment getting the smile out of her partner that Faith had been trying for though.

They drove in silence for a little while and then Bosco broke the silence.

"Hey Faith, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure Boz. What do you want me to do?"

"Can you go shopping with me tomorrow. I'd like your help in picking out a ring. You'd have a better idea of what she would like than I would."

"Of course I will, Boz," Faith said excitedly. "I'll ask Alex for Kim's mother's phone number and find out what size ring she wears. We can go tomorrow before our shift."

"See, right there is one thing I never would have thought of," Bosco told her.

The radio came to life with a call for a domestic. With a sigh Bosco replied to the call and told central they were on there way.

'No matter what we find,' Bosco told himself, 'I'm not going to let it rattle me. I'm not the same kind of person they are. That my Dad was.'

* * *

At noon the following day Bosco pulled his mustang up outside of the apartment building that Faith lived in. He got out and made his way upstairs to Faith's apartment. He was already nervous just thinking about looking for a ring. Was he really ready to do this? He was having second thoughts. Part of him just wanted to tell Faith to forget about it.

He knocked on the door to the apartment and Faith immediately opened the door with a smile on her face.

"This is going to be fun," she said, not noticing the doubt in Bosco's face at first but then she did and she grew a little more serious. "Okay, let's go before you chicken out," Faith told him grabbing her jacket and stepping out into the hallway with Bosco. She shut and locked the apartment door behind her and then grabbed Bosco's arm and headed downstairs to his car with him.

Faith dragged Bosco into five different stores looking for the perfect ring that Bosco could afford. In the end they ended up back at the first store to finally buy a ring.

"Why didn't we just get this one when we were here the first time?" Bosco asked as they walked into the store.

"You aren't clothes shopping for yourself, Bosco. You just can't settle on the first thing you see that you like. An engagement ring is important to a girl."

"Okay," Bosco said admitting defeat. "Hey, what did you mean about my clothes? You don't think they look okay?" Bosco asked, as her words really started to sink in.

"Forget it Bosco. Sorry I said anything," Faith told him quickly wanting to stop the way this conversation was going before it went any further.

Bosco bought the ring and then he and Faith hurried to work. They were cutting it close on time and Bosco really didn't want to explain to Christopher why he was late. Christopher would have never believed him anyway or he'd laugh. Bosco didn't feel like dealing with either reaction.


	8. A proposal

Later that evening, Bosco was able to catch up with Kim during work. The shift had been slow for both of them so far, and they were able to time their meal break at the same time. The two sat at a table by the window in the diner together while their partners were sitting at the counter chatting.

"Can we go out to lunch tomorrow before our shift?" Bosco asked Kim after they got their food.

"Sure," Kim said. "Where did you want to go?"

Bosco hesitated a moment and then named a fancy restaurant.

"What, are you serious?" Kim couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, I want to take you someplace special," Bosco told her.

"Okay," Kim said with a smile. She knew Bosco was up to something but she wasn't sure what. She would just have to wait for lunch the next day.

They continued to talk about other things until their lunch break was up. The two set of partners headed for their respective vehicles, as one from each pairing called themselves back into service. Kim got behind the wheel of the ambulance and she and Alex headed back to the fire house.

"So what are you smiling about?" Alex said from the passenger seat.

"Can't I be happy?" Kim said defensively keeping her eyes on the road.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if there was a particular reason."

"I enjoy spending time with Bosco, okay," Kim told her partner. "It makes me happy. Is that a good enough reason for you?"

"Yeah, it sure is," Alex said with a smile. She was ecstatic to see Kim this happy. Kim hadn't been this happy since before Bobby's death. Even though Kim had returned to work Alex and the others at the 55 still worried about her mostly because she had never seemed happy. There had always been an air of sadness around her. Since Bosco had come into her life they had been watching that sadness slowly disappears.

"He asked me out to lunch tomorrow. At Durand's."

"Did he say why he wanted to take you there?" Alex asked.

"Not really."

"Maybe he's getting ready to ask you something," Alex suggested.

"You can't be serious?" Kim said.

"Why not? You've been going out for awhile. You said he gets along well with Joey. You seem happy to be with him and I sure he feels the same way."

"You really think?"

"Stranger things have happened," was Alex's final comment as a call for Boyd 55 came in at an apartment building for a female who had fallen down some steps.

As Kim flipped the lights and sirens on and turned the ambulance around so she could head to the address she thought about what Alex had said. Could it be possible? Was Bosco really ready to make a commitment?

'I'm not going to think about it' Kim thought to herself. 'Whatever happens tomorrow happens. I'm not getting my hopes up just to be disappointed.'

* * *

As Bosco parked the mustang in the parking lot outside the restaurant he felt nervous. 'Can I actually go through with this?' he thought to himself.

He quickly got out of the car and hurried over to open Kim's door. Kim got out and Bosco shut the door behind her and offered his arm which she took. Then the two of them headed in the restaurant.

"Welcome monsieur. Name please," the maitre d' said as Bosco and Kim entered the restaurant.

"Maurice Boscorelli."

The maitre d' looked down his list and quickly found the name. "Ah yes," he said. "Right this way please."

Bosco and Kim got settled at their table and their waitress came over and took their order. There was an awkward silence between them for a little while. It was finally Kim who started some small talk while they waited for their food. She couldn't help but think that Bosco seemed preoccupied though.

Across the table from Kim, Bosco was getting cold feet. He had planned this out the night before. Had planned out the right words to say and the moment he wanted to say it. Gone over his plan a million times in his head. Now though, sitting across the table from her, He didn't think he could go through with it. Nothing that he had planned on saying seemed right.

They got through there meal and still Bosco hadn't brought up the subject that he had planning to. Every time he went to start his rehearsed speech he chickened out and said something else instead. As they walked out to his car he still hadn't said what he had planned to do.

Kim couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Bosco had seemed preoccupied during the entire meal. She had kept wanting to ask if something was wrong but decided against it. He would talk when he was ready. If she pushed him she knew she wouldn't get anywhere.

They had reached Bosco's mustang and Bosco reached out to open the passenger side door for her and then paused. Instead of opening the car door he took a deep breath and turned to face her.

"Look Kim, I planned this all out but nothing seems to working out like I planned," Bosco said to her looking into her eyes. "But I want to tell you this because I know the longer I put it off the harder it is going to be. I love you Kim. I love Joey. I can't imagine my life without you anymore and I know we've had our differences in the past. I know I can be a jerk but that doesn't change how I feel for you right now and tomorrow, and next week. I guess what I'm saying is, Kimberly Zambrano, will you please marry me?" Bosco finished taking the ring out of his pocket and kneeling down in front of her right there in the parking lot.

Kim couldn't help it. She did the first thing that came to her. She laughed. Here he had set up this beautiful romantic meal and instead Bosco proposes to her in the middle of the parking lot. It was just like him unexpected.

Bosco thought for sure her laughter meant she was going to say no. Like everything else he did he had somehow managed to mess this up too. But then Kim surprised him.

"Yes, Maurice Boscorelli, I'll marry you," she said still laughing.

Getting over his surprise, Bosco stood up and placed the ring on her hand. He then pulled her close and kissed her. He was aware of the people in the parking lot and on the street staring at them but he didn't care. All he cared about was the woman he was holding in his arms.

* * *

"Hi Kim," Carlos said looking up from his school book as Kim walked into the kitchen of the 55 firehouse five minutes before the start of her shift. Carlos was sitting at the table with Alex, Doc, Walsh and D.K. Doherty was standing at the counter talking with Lombardo about the basketball game the night before. Or rather they were arguing about last night's game.

"Hi everyone," Kim said as she went to the refrigerator and grabbed a soda. She made her way to the table where she sat down in an empty chair next to Alex. Carlos went back to his school book and Doc still had his head in the New York Times.

"Congratulations," Alex whispered as she noticed the diamond ring on Kim's left hand as Kim sat down next to her. Kim held out her hand so that Alex could get a good look at the ring.

"Thank you," Kim whispered back. The others were paying no attention to the two women.

"Oh, man you didn't," Jimmy said interrupting Lombardo's tirade. "Please don't tell me you're going to marry that jerk?" Lombardo had stopped in mid sentence and was now looking toward Kim and Alex. D.K., Walsh, Carlos, and Doc were now all looking toward Kim and Alex too.

"Wow, what a ring," Carlos said finally noticing Kim's engagement ring.

"Yes, Bosco and I are engaged," Kim said in answer to Jimmy's comment.

"You're making a big mistake." Jimmy said.

"Can't be any worse than the mistake I made marrying you," Kim shot back angry that Jimmy was ruining this for her. She had hoped her co workers would be happy for her. Well in Jimmy's case she would have settled for him at least being civil about it.

"Oooohhh," Lombardo said from beside Jimmy.

"Oh, be quiet," Jimmy snapped at him. Lombardo put his hands up in surrender and took a step back. "And you," Jimmy said turning to Kim, "when Bosco sleeps with your mother don't say I didn't warn you."

Most of those in the room just look at Jimmy in surprise. No one could believe that he had actually said that. Kim slowly got out of her chair and walked over to where Jimmy was standing. Everyone in the room was expecting Kim to start yelling at Jimmy and chew him out for what he just said. But she didn't. She didn't even say a word. All she did was slapped Jimmy across the face and then left the room leaving her stunned co workers behind her. Alex got up and followed Kim. At the counter Jimmy rubbed his face where Kim had hit him still not believing that she had done that.

"Kim," Alex said coming out onto the roof behind her. Kim was standing near the edge looking out to the horizon. "Don't listen to Jimmy. He's just jealous."

"And if he's right?" Kim said holding back tears.

"Come on, even Bosco isn't that much of a jerk," Alex said. "I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"I love him, Alex," Kim said looking down at the ring that Bosco had given her.

"Then be happy and start planning a wedding and forget about Jimmy. He's just sore because he knows he's lost all chances with you. Don't let him ruin this for you Kim."

"You're right," Kim said smiling again. "I'm just going to forget about what Jimmy said."

"Good," Alex said and was about to say something else but the door opened and Doc walked out onto the roof.

"Sorry to disturb you two, but you gals have a call," Doc told them.

"Okay," Kim and Alex both said and walked quickly toward the door.

"Hey Kim, congratulations. I think it's wonderful," Doc told her.

"Thanks Doc," Kim said and then hurried inside and down to the ambulance.

* * *

Faith came into the locker room that afternoon and was surprised to find her partner already there. He usually came rushing in at the last minute if he was on time at all. She made her way to her locker which was near hers and started getting ready for her shift.

"Did you go through with it?" Faith finally asked him.

"I almost didn't but I did finally ask her out in the parking lot before I took her home," Bosco told her and Faith started laughing.

"I'm sorry," Faith said a few moments later trying to stop laughing. "It's just that all that planning and a fancy restaurant and everything and you propose to her in a parking lot. You might as well have just did it while you two were working at some point."

"Yeah, I guess it is kind of ironic isn't it," Bosco said starting to see the humor in the situation.

"Well what did she say?" Faith asked when Bosco didn't volunteer the information.

"She said yes," Bosco said nonchalantly.

"That's great, Boz," Faith said. "Congratulations."

"Congratulations on what?" Ty Davis said as he and Sully came into the locker room.

"Kim and I are going to get married," Bosco told him.

"That's great," Davis said.

"Kim Zambrano said yes to you?" Sully said incredulously. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Bosco said turning to face him.

"I just never thought I'd see you settle down with one person Bosco," Sully said as he got his gun out of his locker and put it in the holster. "I think the two of you will be happy together," he told him. "Congratulations," Sully said holding his hand out to Bosco.

"Thank you," Bosco said as he shook Sully's hand. He was a little surprised to hear those words from Sully. He had actually expected Sully to start laughing and start taking bets on how long the engagement was going to last.

"Hey, you guys are going to be late if you keep standing there," Ken Shelton, a transfer from the fourteenth precinct, said as he headed out of the locker room.

"Okay, thanks," Faith called to him. She grabbed her gun and hat quickly and followed Ty, Sully and Bosco out of the locker room.

"So when's the wedding?" Faith asked Bosco as they headed for role call.

"Having set a date yet," Bosco told her. "Believe me you'll be the first to know when we do. Hey Davis?"

"Yeah."

"Will you be my best man? I'd ask Faith but she'd look kind of funny in a tuxedo," Bosco said and immediately got a playful hit from his partner.

"Sure," Davis said a little surprised that Bosco had asked him. It would probably work out well though because Davis figured that Kim would ask Alex to be her maid of honor.

The four took their seats at the desks and got quiet as Christopher started the briefing. It was the start of another shift for the cops of the 55.


End file.
